Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Huai'an, Jiangsu, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Huai'an Lianshui Airport (HIA), Huai'an, Jiangsu, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,434 miles (or 10,355 kilometers).

A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between Ellsworth Air Force Base and Huai'an Lianshui Airport, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Ellsworth Air Force Base and Huai'an Lianshui Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• The closest airport to Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA) is Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) S of RCA.
• In March 1944, heavy bomber operational training ended and the 225th Army Air Force Base Unit began training of replacement personnel for deployed heavy bombardment units in the overseas combat theaters.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
• On 1 June 1992, as part of the first major reorganization since the creation of USAF, the Air Force inactivated Strategic Air Command and assigned Ellsworth's organizations ) to the newly activated Air Combat Command.
• The furthest airport from Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,579 miles (17,026 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• To provide air defense of the base, the United States Army established the Ellsworth AFB Defense Area in 1957 and constructed Nike-Ajax Surface-to-air missile sites for air defense.

Facts about Huai'an Lianshui Airport (HIA):

• Because of Huai'an Lianshui Airport's relatively low elevation of 23 feet, planes can take off or land at Huai'an Lianshui Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• Huai'an Lianshui Airport (HIA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport has one runway that is 2,400 meters long, and a 14,600 square meter terminal building.
• The closest airport to Huai'an Lianshui Airport (HIA) is Lianyungang Baitabu Airport (LYG), which is located 57 miles (92 kilometers) NNW of HIA.
• Huai'an Lianshui Airport handled 230,000 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Huai'an Lianshui Airport", other names for HIA include "淮安涟水机场" and "Huái'ān Liánshuǐ Jīchǎng".
• The furthest airport from Huai'an Lianshui Airport (HIA) is Junín Airport (JNI), which is nearly antipodal to Huai'an Lianshui Airport (meaning Huai'an Lianshui Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Junín Airport), and is located 12,384 miles (19,929 kilometers) away in Junín, Buenos Aires, Argentina.